Greybeard, A 'Fun-Guy'
@cawsllyffant.org
They/them, officially old, worked in dev since ‘97, look inspired by “Gimli, but fabulous?”
My handle is a bad joke. Avatar AI generated (obvs), but looks a lot like me. Yes, I look like Santa. If kids ask me, I tell them I'm his younger brother.
My handle is a bad joke. Avatar AI generated (obvs), but looks a lot like me. Yes, I look like Santa. If kids ask me, I tell them I'm his younger brother.
I think people get confused about PGH, in part because people as far away as DuBois claim to be from "near Pittsburgh." The city itself is fairly liberal. The burbs on the other hand -- I just turned down an opportunity in Butler county because I'd need to pass as cis to feel safe.
April 17, 2025 at 12:04 PM
I think people get confused about PGH, in part because people as far away as DuBois claim to be from "near Pittsburgh." The city itself is fairly liberal. The burbs on the other hand -- I just turned down an opportunity in Butler county because I'd need to pass as cis to feel safe.
Reposted by Greybeard, A 'Fun-Guy'
Uhhh suuuuuure. Let's destroy Pittsburgh's current economy (medical, education, banking) to bring back the economy of 50 years ago, but this time without unions or government regulations
As Seductive As That Sounds No Thank You GIF
ALT: As Seductive As That Sounds No Thank You GIF
media.tenor.com
April 9, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Uhhh suuuuuure. Let's destroy Pittsburgh's current economy (medical, education, banking) to bring back the economy of 50 years ago, but this time without unions or government regulations
I'm just saying that CyberTrucks are the Mark I Travel Machines. The third version of the CyberTruck is going to look like this.
a room with a door that is open and a lamp
Alt: AI Says "a room with a door that is open and a lamp".
An image from the Peter Cushing film "Dr Who and The Daleks" a film version of the first Dalek Adventure. It shows a door sliding open and two what look like two bumpy pepper shakers lights on top of their heads, some kind of eyestalk sticking out the front, a stick with a claw on the end and another stick that turns out to be a gun.
They look silly but any Dr Who fan will tell you they are terrifying space-nazis housed in a personal tank that is about 5 feet tall and can level buildings, start fires and kills without mercy or pity.
media.tenor.com
April 4, 2025 at 12:41 PM
I'm just saying that CyberTrucks are the Mark I Travel Machines. The third version of the CyberTruck is going to look like this.
1. Un-charming, yet yields massive power.
2. Always telling people how brilliant he is.
3. Actual creations have significant flaws. (The ultimate species regularly requires humanoids to do work)
4. The whole fascism thing.
5. Focused on survival at any cost.
2. Always telling people how brilliant he is.
3. Actual creations have significant flaws. (The ultimate species regularly requires humanoids to do work)
4. The whole fascism thing.
5. Focused on survival at any cost.
April 4, 2025 at 12:41 PM
1. Un-charming, yet yields massive power.
2. Always telling people how brilliant he is.
3. Actual creations have significant flaws. (The ultimate species regularly requires humanoids to do work)
4. The whole fascism thing.
5. Focused on survival at any cost.
2. Always telling people how brilliant he is.
3. Actual creations have significant flaws. (The ultimate species regularly requires humanoids to do work)
4. The whole fascism thing.
5. Focused on survival at any cost.
Oops, I meant "clutch their pearls", not peals.
April 3, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Oops, I meant "clutch their pearls", not peals.
Or the people who clutch their peals over books that would have helped someone like me figure out some gender stuff.
Ok -- that's really it. If you read this whole thing, thanks. If you didn't that's cool too, and least I got this out there.
Ok -- that's really it. If you read this whole thing, thanks. If you didn't that's cool too, and least I got this out there.
April 3, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Or the people who clutch their peals over books that would have helped someone like me figure out some gender stuff.
Ok -- that's really it. If you read this whole thing, thanks. If you didn't that's cool too, and least I got this out there.
Ok -- that's really it. If you read this whole thing, thanks. If you didn't that's cool too, and least I got this out there.
And don't get me started on the moral scolds who told my Mom she should get remarried "for the sake of the children." Or the teachers who made it clear they were loathe to teach a child of "questionable parentage." (Because they didn't know my Dad personally.)
April 3, 2025 at 12:36 PM
And don't get me started on the moral scolds who told my Mom she should get remarried "for the sake of the children." Or the teachers who made it clear they were loathe to teach a child of "questionable parentage." (Because they didn't know my Dad personally.)
So that's it. When people talk about dismantling this or disrupting that in government remember that it effects people like 5 year old me. So I do take it personally and I strongly believe these programs are worth fighting for.
April 3, 2025 at 12:36 PM
So that's it. When people talk about dismantling this or disrupting that in government remember that it effects people like 5 year old me. So I do take it personally and I strongly believe these programs are worth fighting for.
And the government would have missed out on a good deal of tax revenue as well. About ten years ago, I estimated I'd hit the break even point where my FICA and SSN money started to exceed what was spent on me. (All back of the envelope calculations and fermi question techniques, so not rigorous.)
April 3, 2025 at 12:36 PM
And the government would have missed out on a good deal of tax revenue as well. About ten years ago, I estimated I'd hit the break even point where my FICA and SSN money started to exceed what was spent on me. (All back of the envelope calculations and fermi question techniques, so not rigorous.)
So basically the life I've built as a successful software engineering manager is due in large part to federal spending on rural communities and the social safety net.
Without those opportunities, I almost certainly wouldn't have moved to Pittsburgh and met my spouse.
Without those opportunities, I almost certainly wouldn't have moved to Pittsburgh and met my spouse.
April 3, 2025 at 12:36 PM
So basically the life I've built as a successful software engineering manager is due in large part to federal spending on rural communities and the social safety net.
Without those opportunities, I almost certainly wouldn't have moved to Pittsburgh and met my spouse.
Without those opportunities, I almost certainly wouldn't have moved to Pittsburgh and met my spouse.
An Aside: Some of that financial aid was part of what we would now call a DEI program. Which I qualified for due to the aforementioned 'culturally underserved' designation.
April 3, 2025 at 12:36 PM
An Aside: Some of that financial aid was part of what we would now call a DEI program. Which I qualified for due to the aforementioned 'culturally underserved' designation.
From that base, and with the help of a strong social safety net (and a healthy smattering of hard work and good luck). I was able to go to a fairly prestigious university (Carnegie Mellon), in part because the school made an effort to make it happen with healthy financial aid.
April 3, 2025 at 12:36 PM
From that base, and with the help of a strong social safety net (and a healthy smattering of hard work and good luck). I was able to go to a fairly prestigious university (Carnegie Mellon), in part because the school made an effort to make it happen with healthy financial aid.
Even when I came back to visit, I'd often visit the reading room. (It's there that one of my former teachers hit on me -- very hard and creepily -- but that's another story.)
April 3, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Even when I came back to visit, I'd often visit the reading room. (It's there that one of my former teachers hit on me -- very hard and creepily -- but that's another story.)
Which I did, except for occasionally grabbing books on science from the adult section when the librarian wasn't watching.
Later as a teen, the library became a default 'hang out' spot, and I have fond memories of quietly reading with my friends while Mom worked late.
Later as a teen, the library became a default 'hang out' spot, and I have fond memories of quietly reading with my friends while Mom worked late.
April 3, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Which I did, except for occasionally grabbing books on science from the adult section when the librarian wasn't watching.
Later as a teen, the library became a default 'hang out' spot, and I have fond memories of quietly reading with my friends while Mom worked late.
Later as a teen, the library became a default 'hang out' spot, and I have fond memories of quietly reading with my friends while Mom worked late.
Mom was a working mother and had to work long hours. Often I was looked after by siblings, aunts or cousins. (I can still recall the intro to Days of Our Lives because of a summer spent with my cousin Caroline.)
When she ran out of options, I was sent to the library with strict orders to behave.
When she ran out of options, I was sent to the library with strict orders to behave.
April 3, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Mom was a working mother and had to work long hours. Often I was looked after by siblings, aunts or cousins. (I can still recall the intro to Days of Our Lives because of a summer spent with my cousin Caroline.)
When she ran out of options, I was sent to the library with strict orders to behave.
When she ran out of options, I was sent to the library with strict orders to behave.
Without funding the nearest hospital would be an hour away, no theatre or library. And funding for schools would have been dependent on a community primarily consisting of farmers scrambling to make it in Reagan's America.
April 3, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Without funding the nearest hospital would be an hour away, no theatre or library. And funding for schools would have been dependent on a community primarily consisting of farmers scrambling to make it in Reagan's America.
I'm not saying any of this to complain, I'm just table setting for my point. Federal funding of schools, libraries, hospitals and art was (and is) an essential part of how life up there operates, and much like a fish doesnt' see water people don't see it.
April 3, 2025 at 12:36 PM
I'm not saying any of this to complain, I'm just table setting for my point. Federal funding of schools, libraries, hospitals and art was (and is) an essential part of how life up there operates, and much like a fish doesnt' see water people don't see it.
When I was in HS, first a bookstore and then a small record shop opened. Which was revelatory, but both closed by the time I was in college. Not that folks up there weren't interested in any of these things. There just wasn't sufficient people or money to keep things going.
April 3, 2025 at 12:36 PM
When I was in HS, first a bookstore and then a small record shop opened. Which was revelatory, but both closed by the time I was in college. Not that folks up there weren't interested in any of these things. There just wasn't sufficient people or money to keep things going.
Our new home was in an area the State of New York referred to as "culturally underserved." One small community theater that was always on the verge of bankruptcy, one small library and one small hospital. Anything 'cultural' -- even a movie -- required at least a 1 hour drive.
April 3, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Our new home was in an area the State of New York referred to as "culturally underserved." One small community theater that was always on the verge of bankruptcy, one small library and one small hospital. Anything 'cultural' -- even a movie -- required at least a 1 hour drive.